Vineyard Quilt: Pattern Of Betrayal Part 24

Julie held her breath. For a moment she thought Rutherford might try and shoot Gregory where he stood. The look in his eyes was pure evil and full of hate. Perhaps he was telling the truth about loving Alice after all.

"You can go ahead and toss that aside, Rutherford." Gregory motioned with his own weapon for Rutherford to throw his gun to the ground. "Or I can shoot you where you stand. Your choice."

The older man hesitated for a moment. Then Gregory c.o.c.ked the gun and Rutherford pitched his aside, raising his hands in the air.

"Well, well. The infamous Ghost lives. If you wanted to steal the book so badly, why didn't you just take it? Why did you have to kill Alice?" Rutherford's voice was thick with emotion.

"Why did you send your beloved to do your dirty work?" Gregory sneered. "Never send a woman to do a man's job."

Julie bit her tongue to keep from responding to the comment. Her intended reply would only make the situation worse.

Rutherford moved toward Gregory but stopped when he received a gun in his face for his troubles.

"If she meant that much to you," Gregory said, "you should have left her at home and come yourself. Of course, I would have simply killed you instead of her, but no matter." He shrugged as if it were all in a day's work.

A s.h.i.+ver ran down Julie's spine. Rutherford had been a threat, but a mild one, all things considered. He was grief stricken and here to claim what didn't belong to him. But Gregory was apparently a stone-cold killer.

She looked at Daniel and saw his expression was grim. All traces of hope had disappeared. After everything they'd been through in their short time together, this was how they would meet their end-at the hands of a petty thief.

No. Julie felt renewed resolve building inside her.

Maybe if she could keep Gregory talking about Alice long enough, Rutherford would eventually crack. If he rushed Gregory, then Julie and Daniel might have time to disarm him. Or at the very least, be able to overpower Gregory while he was busy fending off Rutherford. It was a long shot, but it beat doing nothing and becoming Gregory's next victims. She highly doubted he'd let them live once he got the book.

"Why did you kill Alice?" she asked.

Gregory fixed her with a hard stare. "She knew who I was. And I knew why she was here."

"And you murdered her without so much as a second thought?"

Gregory gave another of his devil-may-care shrugs. "I didn't mean to kill her. It just happened. When the lights went out, I knew she was going to make her move. So I stopped her and made my move. If I hadn't run into that crazy blonde in the hallway, I would have been long gone with that book days ago."

"You were the one Carrie took the book from," Julie said.

Gregory let out a bark of laughter. "Is that what she told you? Please. I dropped the book, but when I returned for it, it was gone. Then the lights came back on, and I had to high-tail it to the dining room before anyone realized I'd been gone."

His story made about as much sense as the one Carrie had told. But Julie supposed the truth was in the voice of the teller.

"Now give it here." He reached for the book. Daniel reluctantly handed it to him. "And you," he pointed to Rutherford, "get over there with the rest of them."

Rutherford grudgingly did as he was told. They were quickly running out of options and time.

Surely Gregory won't shoot us all, Julie thought, praying she was right.

"I'm not really a killer," Gregory continued. "But I-"

"Julie, I need you to approve this order for the kitchen." In true Hannah form, she pushed her way into the office, only to stop dead in her tracks and stare at the gun that swung to face her.

SEVENTEEN.

Everything seemed to happen at once.

Daniel lunged toward Gregory. Julie dove for his gun, grabbing his hand and twisting it up and back. Gregory yelped in pain, and his hand went slack. Julie quickly wrenched the weapon away.

Hannah squealed, spurred into motion by the attack. She jumped to one side as Rutherford pounced on Gregory. He knocked Gregory and Daniel to the ground. Daniel managed to roll away while Rutherford straddled a sputtering Gregory, wrapping both hands around his pudgy neck.

Hannah fell to the floor and crawled behind the desk.

Gregory turned blue in the face as Daniel tried unsuccessfully to pull Rutherford off of him. Julie didn't think he was trying very hard. She s.n.a.t.c.hed up Rutherford's discarded gun and handed it to Hannah, who took it with trembling fingers.

Then Julie pointed Gregory's gun at the men.

"Enough!" she screamed.

Daniel gave up on Rutherford. He took the gun from Hannah, gave her his phone, and joined Julie.

Rutherford eyed Julie warily. With a frustrated groan, he released his grip on Gregory.

Alice's killer coughed and then rolled to one side and scrambled to his feet. He glared at Julie. "And what do you think you're going to do? Shoot us?"

"Don't tempt me." Julie looked to Hannah who was trying to dial with shaky hands. "911?"

"I'm on it," Hannah said, though her voice lacked its usual gusto.

Detective Frost scratched his head. "Never a dull moment around you, huh, Miss Ellis?"

"I do what I can," she said.

Daniel caught her eye and smiled.

Gregory Wilson had been taken away in handcuffs, growling the entire time about the journal and Julie's interference. He'd been charged with murder, robbery, attempted robbery, attempted murder, and a host of other things the detectives tacked on for good measure. Julie wasn't sure how many of the charges would actually stick, but one thing was certain: Gregory wasn't getting out of jail for a long, long time.

Eric Rutherford was taken away in a separate police car with his own list of charges including attempted murder and conspiracy to commit a felony.

With any luck, now things could return to normal. Julie thought perhaps if she kept telling herself that, it would eventually come true.

Detective Frost watched the two police cars that carried Rutherford and Gregory drive away. Then he turned back to where Julie stood on the steps next to Daniel. "It's a fantastic story, to be sure."

She nodded. "I suppose. Everyone wanted the Civil War journal, and they were willing to stop at nothing to get it."

"Clearly," the detective said with a shake of his head. "That must be some book."

"We'll find out tomorrow when the other expert arrives," Daniel said. Julie could tell from his tone that he had high hopes for the new a.s.sessment.

"Let me know," Frost said, heading toward his car. "And you might think about getting some kind of security system installed in this place. Especially if you plan on digging up more valuables from the bas.e.m.e.nt."

Daniel looked at Julie. "No," he said, shaking a finger at her. "You're not allowed to go down there again. Ever."

All the remaining guests gathered in the tearoom for one last get-together before they went to bed-as if any of them would be able to sleep. Julie was so keyed up, she didn't think she'd be able to sleep for a week.

Carrie's manager arrived that evening to whisk her away to Dallas. "CeCe" had a concert there the next day, and a lot of work to do to get ready. Julie hoped that the young star found her happy medium between who she wanted to be and who everyone thought she should be. It was hard to live a double life. This Julie knew from experience.

The group decided that since Carrie had done the most work on the quilt, it should belong to her. The young girl was thrilled. Joyce and Sadie looked a little sad, but no one disputed that the young pop star was the most deserving of the handmade treasure.

After Carrie left, everyone went to bed. Unable to sleep, Julie lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. She thought about texting Daniel to see if he was awake too, or even knocking on Liam's door to see if he wanted to play a midnight game of checkers. But Daniel had looked utterly worn out when he left. And if Liam was awake, he would certainly be typing away at his laptop.

She rolled over, punched her pillow, and closed her eyes once again. But they quickly popped back open as if they had a mind of their own.

With a frustrated growl, she threw back the covers. Maybe a gla.s.s of warm milk would help her sleep. Then again, with all the excitement she had been through over the last four days, it might take a gallon.

She wrapped her robe around her and padded down the two flights of stairs to the first floor.

The inn was quiet; not even the sounds of Kenneth's snores could be heard. Soft shades of moonlight spilled in through the windows, giving the grand Victorian inn an otherworldly glow. The threatening note had been painted over, and the ruined couch replaced. Everything was as it should be.

But if that was the case, then why did she still feel so antsy?

With a shake of her head, she continued toward the kitchen on nearly silent feet.

Warm milk. She'd never gone in for it before, but there was a first time for everything, or so they said. She retrieved the milk from the fridge and found a pan. If only she had some chocolate. Now that sounded good. Not necessarily a cure for insomnia, but tasty all the same.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" Hannah appeared in the doorway. Her gla.s.ses were firmly in place, not a trace of sleep in her eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing."

Hannah shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. All the excitement, I guess. I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall."

"No more shoes, just milk. You want some?" Julie held up the jug.

"Sure." Hannah slid onto a stool at the island and propped her chin in one hand.

Julie poured enough for them both and turned on the burner.

"I've never seen this domestic side of you," Hannah commented.

"I only let it out on special occasions." Julie winked at her friend who in turn rolled her eyes. "Do we have any chocolate to go in here?"

Hannah slipped off the stool and walked to the pantry. Then, instead of handing Julie the cocoa and sugar, she b.u.mped her out of the way and took over.

Julie gave a half-hearted protest before taking Hannah's place at the island. "We don't happen to have any caramel?" she asked.

Hannah shot her a horrified look. "If you eat that at this time of night, you'll never get to sleep."

That was Julie's favorite go-to comfort food, pickles dipped in hot caramel. And after the weekend she'd had, that was the least she could allow herself for managing to survive.

"Fine. The caramel is in the fridge," Hannah said as she poured them both a cup of steaming chocolate milk. "Just do me a favor. Wait until I'm done with this before you start in on that gross concoction. I don't think I can watch it tonight."

"Deal."

Hannah sat down next to her. They were silent for a few moments, both listening to the sound of the clock ticking and the normal creaks and groans of the old house. "Would you like a cookie?"

Julie smiled over the rim of her mug. "That would be almost as good as pickles and caramel."

Hannah pushed a sealed container toward Julie. Sweet mola.s.ses spice cookies were nestled inside.

"Delicious," Julie said around the first mouthful. She swallowed and took another bite. She hadn't realized how hungry almost getting killed a few times in one night could make a person.

"This hasn't exactly turned out to be the quiet town we thought we were moving to, has it?" Hannah said.

"Not even close." Julie had long since decided that Straussberg was anything but quiet. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She was an action junkie. She thrived on the unknown. The town was definitely starting to grow on her.

"You've got that gleam in your eyes again." Hannah raised an eyebrow in her direction. She knew Julie so well.

"It's nothing. Just thinking about this town."

"You're not thinking of leaving, are you?" Hannah asked. Julie heard the unmistakable worry in her friend's voice. She knew Hannah had grown fond of the new job and the people of Straussberg.

Julie scoffed. "Are you kidding? And miss the all the excitement?" She raised her mug for a toast. "Here's to our next adventure at the Quilt Haus Inn."

Hannah smiled and raised her mug to clink against Julie's. "Here, here."

And for the first time in days, Julie saw Hannah relax.

EIGHTEEN.

At ten o'clock the next morning, the remaining guests gathered to check out and say their goodbyes. Even Liam had shown up, though he wasn't leaving.

"I had such a wonderful time," Joyce gushed, pulling Julie in for a quick hug. "I haven't had that much excitement in years!"

"I can't wait to come back for the murder mystery weekend next year," Sadie said. Not one to be left out, she s.n.a.t.c.hed a hug as well. "Though I don't know how you'll possibly top this one."

"We've got to start saving this very instant," Joyce said.

"Immediately," Sadie confirmed.